Erasing device for typewriters



July 2o, 1926; 1,593,481

J. R. WILKINS El' AL ERASING DEVICE FOR TYPEWRITERS Filed May 9, 192s 2sheets-sheet 1 @M501 nu! July 20, 1926.

lJ. R. WILKINS El AL ERASING DEVICE FOR TYPEwRITl-:Rs

Filed May 9, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 NM. a.

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W/ /NM NN i Wam/i Patented July .20, 1926.'

- 'UNITEDsrATEs PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN ROLAND WILxIN's, or MAYO, ANn STEPHEN W. sHFonn, or SPABTANBUHG,SOUTH CAROLINA.

ERSING 'DEVICE FORA TYPEWRITERS. y l

Applieation ied May 9,

r -The present lnvention relates to eraslng devices for typewriters, andaims to provide a' novel and improved device for convenient- 1y andquickly erasing a character immediately after it has been printed by atypewriter, for making a correction or change cfuickly and withouthaving to turn 'the platen. H

Another object is the provision ofnovel means for mounting an eraser ona typef writer and for Operating it, so that the eraser is normally outof the Way without back spacer beingoperable independently of theerasing device if desired.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, which will be .apparent asthe description proceeds, the invention resides in the construction andarrangement of parts, as hereinafter describedand claimed, it beingunderstood that chan-ges can be made within the scope of what isclaimed, without departing from the spirit ofthe invention.

The 'invention is illustrated inthe accompanying drawings, whereinvFigure 1 is a front view of the device` with the eraser shown inoperative position in full lines and in normal idle posltion in dottedylines, and the back spacerand eraser levers being shown in cross sectionline 1-1 of Fig. 2..

Fig. 2 is a plan view ofthe device, portions being broken away, and theeraser guide being shown in section on the line Fig. 3 is a sideelevatibn of the back spacer' and eraser levers.

' Fig. 4 is a front view of a modified conostruction, corresponding withFig. 1, and omitting the key levers.

Fig. 5 is a' section on the line 5 5 of Fig.

the guide 14.

1925. Serial N'O. 29,089.

4, showing the' key. levers, portionsbeing A bracket 10 has pivotallyconnected with and clamped on said clamp by means of a pivot andclamping screw 12 threaded downwardly into the clamp and on which theportion 11 is mounted for rotary movement. The bracket 10 projectsinfront of the roller platen 13 'of the typewriter,`a`nd by loosening thescrew 12 the bracket 10 may be adjusted toward and away from the platenin Order that thel device will operate properly.- 'As shown, the clamp 7is at the right hand side of the typewriter, with the bracket 10projecting toward the left. This bracketv is provided at its innerend'with a curved guide 14 to guide the eraser to and from operativepcs1t1on.

A lever or Abar 15v is pivotedfas at 16,

provided at its free end with a U-shaped por- 'tion 17 straddling'theguide 14. A shaft 18 'so on the bracket 10 near the clamp`7 and lis isjournaled in the portionl7 in rear of the guide 14 and carries theeraser 19, .which is a disk of rubber or othersuitable abrasivematerial. A friction orgear pinion 20 is secured on said shaft withinthe portion 17 to bear against the rear side of the guide 14, and theeraser 19 is located beyond the end of the lever 15 and projectsrearwardly to contact with the paper on the platen at the pointwhere/the type contacts with thev paper.v A roller 21 is mounted in theportion i 17 to bear against the `front' side of the guide 14, so thatthe free end of the lever 15 moves smoothly along the guide 14n, The

pinion 2O may rietionally contact with the guide 14 to rotate the eraser19 when the lever 15 is oscillated, or gear teeth may be formed on thepinion, 2O and rear side of The back spacer lever ofo the typewriter isindicatedv at 22, being fulcrumedas at 23 and having the back spacerbutton or key 24 which when depressed will, through the bacl spacingmeans (not shown), set

the platen backwardly, as well kno-wn. The

erasing lever 25, as shown, is mounted on the same ulcrum 23 as the backspacer lever, and is disposed adjacent to said lever, and carries abutton or key 26 to be depressed when making an erasure. The lever 25 isconnected by a link 27 or other suitable connection with the lever 15,so that the lever is swung downwardly by the depression or the eraserlever 25. rlhe operative connection between-the levers 15 and 25 mayvary with dierent makes of typewriters.

ln order that the back spacer lever will be depressed with the eraserlever, and to permit the back spacer leverto be depressed withoutdepressing the erase-r lever. a piece or member 28 is secured to thelever 25 and is slotted to straddle the lever 22. Thus, when the lever25 is depressed the piece 28 will also depress the lever 22, but thelever 22 may be depressed without moving the lever 25 downwardly.

The back spacer leverA 22 being normally raised by its spring 29 willraise the piece 28 and lever 25` and the link 27 being raised will raisethe lever 15 to dotted line position shown in Fig. 1. The eraser 19 willtherefore be raised out ot the way so as not to obstruct the vision ofthe work being done. The back spacer may also be operated withoutoperating the erasing device. When it is desired to make a correction orchange after printing a character, the eraser button or key 26 isdepressed, which` will depress the back spacer lever 22 so as to set theplaten back to the position it occupied when the character was printed.At the same time, the lever 15 is swung downwardly and the pinion 2Orolling along the guide or rack 14 will rotate' the eraser 19. Saideraser comes into tangential contact with the paper on the platen and isrotated when approaching and contacting with the paper, so as to erasethe character from the paper. The erasure is thus accomplished by thesimple depression of the key or button 26, and when said ,buttonisreleased the erasing device and back spacer lever return to normalposition. B holding the back spacer key 24 down, t ie erasing device maybe operated several-times, if desired, with- `out operating the backspacer.

In the modied construction shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the bracket 10 is ofdilerent`V platen and spaced from said platen at the front side thereof.rlhe shaft rotates about its axis, in the bearing 15 andV swingsupwardly and downwardly about the pivot 1G. A Vcombined roller andbearing is litted on the shaft 18 and is adapted to roll along the guide14 to guide the shaft 18 for upward and downward movement, and the guide14 has a hook 20 at its lower end into which the roller 20 seats whenthe sbai't 18 is moved downwardly to erasing position. A yoke 17straddles the roller 2U' and engages 'the shaft 18 loosely, and aictractile coiled spring 2l is connected to the yoke 17 and bracket lOin order to raise the shaft 18 and litt the eraser 19 out of the waywhen the device is not in use.

The back spacer lever 22 and eraser lover 25 are the same ashereinberore described, but the loperative connection between the lever25 and eraser shatt 18 is different. rl`hus, a cord or flexible element27 is wound around, as at 30, the shaft 18 near the bearing 15, and oneend is connected to a retractile coiled spring 31 anchored to the frame.The other end ot the cord 27 is connected operably with the lever 25. Asshown, a secondary lever 32 is located below the lever 25 to which thecord 27 is connected, the lever 32 being fulcrumed, as at 33, in irontof the pivot 23. r:the lever 32 has a i'inger or lug 34 against whichthe lever 25 contacts, whereby the depression of the lever 25 will swingthe tree end ot the lever 32 'down through a greater distance to pullthe cord 27 down suiiciently for the intended purpose.

The spring 21. normally raises the shaft 18 to the dotted line positionas shown in Fig. 4, with the eraser 19y raised out of the way. Bydepressing the lever 25, the lever 32 is swung downwardly to pull thecord A27 downwardly. The first slight downward movement of the cord 27will swing the shaft 18 downwardly to erasing position substantiallyparallel to the axis of tbe platen 13 (full line position as seen inFig. 4), thereby bringing'the edge of the eraser 19 into contact withthe platen or paper thereon. The roller 20 seats in the hook 20a,thereby limiting the downward movement of the eraser, and the further orcontinued downward movement of the cord 27 will then rotate the shaft 18so as to rotate the eraser while in contact with the paper. The woundportion of the cord gripping the shaft will rotate the shaft by thedownward pull on the cord 27 and the spring 31 is stretched. In thisway. when the cord 27 is started downwardly the eraser is moved fromidle to operative position, and is then rotated by the further orcontinued downward movement of the cord 27. This enables the eraser tobe rotated while in contact with the paper so as to obl tain a cleanerasure. When the lever 25.is

- to normal idle position.

is claim-gsd released, thev spring21 will restore the parts thusdescribed as new is l. The combination with the roller platen and frameof-a typewriter, of an erasing the invention, what device comprising ashaft, a disk-shaped eraser thereon,. a bracket, means for adjustablysupporting said bracket from said` frame lto adjust the bracket towardand from the platen, means mountingsaid on said bracket for the rotationof the shaft about its axis and for the swing- `ing Imovement of saidishaft in a plane spaced to onel side from said-platen, said aft beingadapted to swing in said plane to a position substantially parallel withthe axisof said laten with the eraser contacting at its e ge with theplaten vor paper thereon, and operating means f orswingingr Isaid shaftin said plane and rotating said shaft about itsaxis. l

2. An erasing device for typewriters comprising a shaft, a disk-.sha ederaser secured thereon, means for mountin said shaft for y rotationabout its axis an for swinging movement to and rfrom erasing position,yieldable means for normally swinging Vsaid shaft awayl from erasingposition, and opjerating,means including a iexible element wound on saidshaft and anv elastic spring connected to said element, whereby whensaid flexible element is pulled it will swing said shaft to erasingposition and rotate the shaft.

3. -An erasing device for typewriters com- I I prising a bracket havinga guide, a bearing y pivoted tosaid bracket, a shaft journaled insaidbearing and, adapted to swing with the bearing to and from-erasingposition, a disk-shaped eraser secured on sald shaft, a roller mountedonvthe shaft and movable .along said guide, yieldable means for swingingsaid shaft away from erasing position,

Yand means connected to said shaft `for position, and .operating meansincludin a flexible element wound on said shaft an an elastic springconnected to said iexible element, whereby when said element is pulledit swings the shaft to erasing position and rotates `said shaft. 1

5. An erasing device for typewriters comprising in combination with aback spacer lever, an eraser lever, erasing means operatively. connectedwith saideraser lever to be operated thereby. and adapted to operate atthe point where the type impressions ars made, and means for moving theback spacer lever with the eraser lever and permitting the backspacerlever to be operated by itself. l l s I 6. An erasin device fortypewriters com'-1 pprising in-com ination4 with a back spacer lever, aneraser lever erasing means operatively connected with said-eraser leverto be operated thereby and adapted to operate at the point where thetype im ressions are made, and a member secured tti) one of said leversto contact with the other for moving the back spacer lever with theeraser lever i andpermitting the back spacer lever to be operated byitself.

In testimony whereof we hereunto aiiix our signatures'.

' A JOHN ROLAND' WILKINsf STEPHEN. W.f sHUFoRD'.

